Police say suspect in Heinola poisoning could be serial killer
Man suspected of three murders between 1996 and 2005
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The National Bureau of investigation (NBI) is investigating the deaths of two Tampere men in the 1990s as possible murders.
Police suspect that the killer is the same 29-year-old who has been remanded in custody suspected of the murder of a 54-year-old Helsinki corporate executive in November last year.
Both Tampere men died in the same apartment in the city's Rantaperkiö district. One of the men, aged about 20, was found dead in the apartment in August 1996. The other victim, aged about 30, was found in the same apartment in February the following year.
The third victim was the registered partner of the suspect. He died at his summer home in Heinola in November 2005.
Police began to suspect foul play in the Tampere deaths after investigating the background of the suspect in the Heinola case, and finding a number of similarities in the three deaths.
In each of the cases, the suspect was the first to inform officials about the death. In each case, the suspect and the deceased were the only people present.
All victims died of drug overdoses.
Forensic investigations revealed that the victims in the cases of 2005 and 1997 had a ingested a deadly dose of the powerful pain medication Abalgin. In the most recent case, police say that the 29-year-old suspect had acquired the drug from a Heinola pharmacy with the help of a forged prescription. In another case, the medicine had been prescribed to the suspect himself.
In the 1996 case, the victim died of an overdose of the pain medicine Dolcontin.
"The medications came into play only through the person who has been remanded. The medicines were not prescribed to the deceased, and were not linked in any way with their own treatments", says Olli Töyräs of the NBI.
Police did not initiate a criminal investigation in Tampere. All that was done was to investigate the causes of death of the Tampere men. At that time they were classified as a poisoning accident, and a suicide.
The suspect himself did not live in the Tampere apartment where the bodies were found. The main tenant of the apartment was the man who died there in 1997. He, and the suspect, who lived in Tampere at the time, had previously been a couple.
Police believe that the man who died in 1996 was a friend or acquaintance of the suspect. Before the victim's death, the two would visit restaurants, after which they would go to the apartment. The main tenant of the apartment had given the suspect the key, and was away often because of frequent travel.
Police believe that the suspected killer wanted to get his hands on the Helsinki businessman's inheritance. The motives for the possible murders in Tampere are unclear.
The suspect has denied responsibility for the Heinola killing. Police plan to question him about the Tampere cases this week.
Police are also investigating other possible crimes from the man's past.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 27.3.2006 - TODAY |
 Police say suspect in Heinola poisoning could be serial killer |
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